Fifty years ago, LBJ was president, the Vietnam War was raging and the Beatles were ascending into the musical stratosphere with 'Revolver.'

It also marked the beginning of Jim Haaff and Bob Snyder's Rockport American Legion baseball partnership. One thousand, one hundred and three victories later, they're still going strong.

Snyder, 69, joked that he and Haaff, 74, know what each other is thinking.

'It helps us both,' said Snyder, who does much of the behind the scenes work while Haaff manages. 'We have similar baseball theories. We almost really do read each other's minds.'

Haaff said they have made about every decision that could be made in the course of a ballgame.

'Bob does a lot of the paper stuff and with recruiting,' Haaff said. 'He keeps up with the kids. Two heads are better than one.'

Regarded as an old-school taskmaster back in the day, Haaff wouldn't exactly say he's mellowed.

'I've adjusted to the times, the kids and to society,' Haaff said. 'I am still very much a hands-on guy. I do more individual things than team-wise. The kids know what to expect. They check their egos at the door when they walk in.'

Rockport liked a quote from Michael Mosby in the Aug. 2, 2008 Courier & Press so much it still appears in their program: 'Everybody underestimated us. Don't ever underestimate a Rockport team. We play hard for 27 outs.'

Jerry Hargis, who is a Rockport coach at the youthful age of 82, said that sums up the program 'all the way back to Bill Evans (Haaff's predecessor).'

Mosby and Blake Monar, who lifted Rockport to the 2007 Legion World Series, went on to play in the minors. Mosby played in the Baltimore Orioles' farm system while Monar pitched in the Washington Nationals' organization and for the Evansville Otters.

'You can be old school and still win,' Haaff said. 'If you bunt when you're supposed to and do the right things in the field, it will win for you.'

Sheer numbers staggering: For a moment, consider the numbers Haaff has compiled over the years.

He has posted a 1,103-621-3 legion record, including 6-1 this season. He has won 34 sectional championships, 17 regionals, six state titles and three Great Lakes Regional championships. His 1974, 1984 and 2007 teams advanced to the Legion World Series.

Although Snyder has been a fixture in the third-base coaching box while Haaff stayed in the dugout, Snyder still lives in the shadows, to some degree. But he had success in his own right as a head coach at Wabash Valley, a junior college in Mount Carmel, Illinois.

He guided WVC to a third-place finish in the 1989 NJCAA World Series and posted a 565-404 record from 1979 to '92. Snyder won three Great Rivers Athletic Conference titles, four sectionals and one Region 24 championship.

Helping Haaff coach Rockport's legion program proved a fertile recruiting ground for Snyder. If their Indiana and Kentucky players didn't have a definitive answer about where they were going to college, Snyder said, 'Why not play for me at Wabash Valley?' Several of them did, with great success.

'It was a great recruiting tool,' Snyder said.

Stretching across the river: Rockport is a tiny town of about 2,261 people and as talented as its players are, it needs standouts from nearby towns to thrive at the American Legion level.

Legion rules allow programs to recruit players from nearby cities, even across state lines.

Through the years, several players from Owensboro, Kentucky have starred for Rockport.

Haaff, who grew up in Chrisney, Indiana, said getting to know players from neighboring communities is one of the aspects he has enjoyed most.

'It's a great thing,' said Philpot, Kentucky resident Steve Hayden, who caught for Rockport's 1983 state championship team while his brother, Russ, pitched for the 1980 state title team.

Steve's son, Andrew, currently pitches for Rockport. Andrew, who attended Daviess County High in Owensboro, signed with Murray State.

'It was seamless for me to come back after 30 years,' Steve said.

He said Haaff had a way of chewing out his catcher when he also meant for the pitcher to hear as well. But he wasted no time going directly to the mound and yelling at Russ Hayden after a particularly bad pitch to a Funkhouser hitter named Don Mattingly at a Fourth of July Tournament at Joe Hargis Field in the late 1970s.

'Russ had an 0-2 count, but left one over the plate,' Steve recalled.

In those days, the old grandstand to the South Spencer High School football field also served as the right-center field fence for the baseball field.

'Mattingly hit one over the 385-foot mark in right-center, over the football press box (at the top of the grandstand),' Steve Hayden said. '(Haaff) chewed on Russ, telling him, 'Get a good look at a major league baseball player.' He was furious. That was one of the longest balls I've ever seen hit.'''

Snyder remembered it, too.

'It was a blast,' Snyder said.

No timetable for retirement: Haaff has heard the question repeatedly the last few years: When are you going to hang 'em up?

'It's still up in the air,' said Haaff, an Indiana Baseball Hall of Famer. 'A lot of it depends on health.'

Haaff had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator put in his chest in 2009, but feels quite healthy at present.

Snyder, who had a hip replaced many years ago, no longer hits infield practice.

'If coach Haaff steps away, I will step away,' Snyder said. 'Hopefully we'll get out when the time is right. It's always been a pleasure to come to the ballpark and work with coach Haaff.'